Best Trails in Mount Tamalpais State Park

Looking for a great trail in Mount Tamalpais State Park, California? AllTrails has 40 great hiking trails, trail running trails, views trails and more, with hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers, and nature lovers like you. Ready for some activity? There are 24 moderate trails in Mount Tamalpais State Park ranging from 2.4 to 16 miles and from 19 to 2,572 feet above sea level. Start checking them out and you'll be out on the trail in no time!

With its golden grasslands, iconic oak woodlands, stands of redwood forest, chaparral, and views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais State Park captures the heart of Marin County.
While fog is a defining aspect of the ecosystem, on clearer days hikers can see the Farallon Islands, the San Francisco bay, the cities of the East Bay, and even as far as Mount Diablo.
More than 50 miles of trail are within the park and connect to a larger, 200-mile-long trail system. Bicyclists are challenged by old railroad grade, or the twisting road to the highest point of the park's summit. Camping at Bootjack or Steep Ravine makes for a great overnight trip.
The park is open from 7am to sunset year-round. Dogs are not allowed on trails, on fire roads or in undeveloped areas. Dogs are permitted on leash in the picnic areas and campgrounds, except in the Environmental Campground.

Really an awesome hike for being so close to the city. Some steep sections and lots of diversity in terrain. We refilled water at a campground and at Westpoint Inn. The peak was crowded, there’s a road that folks can drive to an area just short of the peak. But overall a great day, lots of options to loop back on a different trail to the beach, as the trails tend to crisscross all through the state park.

We started at the low end, Whitegate Ranch Trailhead, and hiked the trail clockwise. I would do it this way again, because parking at Whitegate is free and we got steep uphill section out of he way first. This was the perfect medium-difficulty hike that left our legs sore for a couple of days, but which was worth it for the fun ladder, creek pools, huge redwood trees and views of the ocean. There was one short muddy section of the trail, but otherwise the trail was extremely well maintained.

Dipsea and Steep Ravine trails on the way up from Stinson are magnificent. Encountered a coyote on Dipsea. Matt Davis is nice, too; be aware that the descent is rocky and lots of uneven stairs. Watch your footing. Altogether a great loop!

This was an epic hike. Be prepared to hike for atleast 8 hours. Going up the Matt Davis trail on a misty morning was beautiful. Great trail with different environments the higher you go up. The Pantoll station is your 1/3 waypoint and the West Point Inn is a nice place to chill and recline before you get to the East Peak. The peak has great views of Marin and San Francisco. You forget about the beautiful relationship the fog has with San Francisco, but not up there. Its stunning

Sweeping views of Tiburon, Richardson Bay, and SF/fog. Lots of trail variation (fire roads, redwood groves, and creekside scrambles). I went counterclockwise and highly recommend going clockwise instead. Nora Trail was beautiful, shady and mild — would’ve been a lovely ascent. The stretch of Miller Trail was creekside and buggy as hell, and ascending it was not fun. Next time I’ll cut out Miller and will hike Old Railroad Grade to Fern Creek Trail.

Easily one of my favorite year-round hikes. It’s so gorgeous, has a moderate amount of elevation gain and still pretty pleasant in the summer. Definitely take the steep ravine trail back down if you take matt davis up, not just to mix it up a bit but because it’s absolutely worth it.

Some truly stunning views that only Marin can offer. There’s a mix of sun and shade—but on a sunny day, the heat means business. Bring water, hat, etc. The Miller trail that cuts down to Old Railroad Grade is rocky and a bit overgrown, hence a bit of scrambling but nothing intense. Our small dog managed fine. It’s lovely to stop for a snack at West Point Inn—the picnic tables offer amazing views and a good breeze. We did the trail as marked at it was exactly 4.7 miles

I love this area! We began our hike at Pantoll parking, hiked down the Matt Davis trail to Stinson beach. We chilled at the beach and continue our hike up Dipsea to Steep Ravine, to Pantoll. You have to pay $8.00 to park at Pantoll. When we started up Dipsea we ran into a coyote, who began stalking us..so keep a watchful eye out. Walking up the Steep Ravine trail to Pantoll was a great uphill workout, moderate trail. Many places to stop along Webb creek and relax.

Loved everything about this trail, took us down to the beach! We parked up at Pantoll and hiked down to Stinson Beach. I highly recommend this way because you’re facing over a mile in stairs if you start at Stinson beach. Once we got down to Stinson, we took Dipsea up to Steep Ravine Trail which took us back to Pantoll. Found two rattlesnakes along the way too. Highly recommend this hike! No doggies though

Starting uber early at 6a helped w/ a few things.
1. Didn’t see any other hikers till we were at the end of the trail (2.5 hrs later)
2. Hiked in mostly mist, helping to keep cool
3. Even when the sun was out, it was still quite pleasant to hike in direct light.
4. We had the rest of the day to eat, shop & explore SF afterwards
I suggest going early as well to guarantee parking. I’ve always parked behind the fire station as it is just at the start of the hike, but quickly can be taken up. You can refill on water, & use the restroom, at the ranger station about halfway through. Trails are marked pretty well, so you shouldn’t get lost.

Amazing workout complimented with amazing scenery! Only approached this area via Mount Tamalpais because I hadn't secured a parking pass ahead of time. Very happy it turned out that way. Dropping in through beautiful forest, crossing creeks along the way was nice. Then arriving at the creek bed with all the redwoods towering overhead was the perfect touch. Only downside was that part of the trail at the bottom was partially closed for maintenance.